the ball joint is inside the knuckle at the end of the tie rod. The part that goes into the steering knuckle is a tapered stud where when you tighten the nut it wedges onto its hole and makes a very tight fit.
You may want to try a tie rod seperator. liiks like a giant 2 prong fork with tapered tines that are thick at their root and thin at the tip. What you do is put it into position so that the tierod stud lines up between the tines then you tap the seperator in between the tie rod end and the steering knuckle. The wedged forks will pop the taper pin out.
I've had the same problem with the stud spinning as I try to to take the nut off. I've done 2 things, tighten the nut to try and wedge the stud into the steering knuckle tighter and prevent it from spinning. Or tap the top of the tie rod end to push the stud into its hole tighter to keep it from turning, or use a "C" clamp to clamp the tie rod into the steering knuckle as you loosen the nut.
Keep cool, don't get mad and just keep trying and you'll get them off. Don't hammer on the parts too hard or you could do damage.
Try using some heat. If you have an electric heat gun, thats best, but if all you have is a torch, well, that will work but there is a high possibility of melting the rubber boot or starting a fire with the grease thats inside the boot or the penetrating oil thats already there.
If the boot is torn I suggest replacing the boot if you can get just the boot, otherwise replace the whole tie rod end. The torn boot will let water in and cause corrosion then you'll end up having to take things appart again to replace the corroded/worn tie rod end.
Last edited by JSmith; 05/11/03 05:13 PM.
